Hong Kong stocks track broader Asia higher on White House transition, vaccine hopes

Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Tuesday, tracking other Asian markets, as sentiment was lifted globally after a federal agency gave U.S. President-elect Joe Biden the go-ahead to begin his White House transition and on progress on a COVID-19 vaccine.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 102.00 points or 0.39pc at 26,588.20. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.51pc to 10,612.58.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.1pc, while the IT sector dipped 0.26pc, the financial sector ended 0.45pc higher and the property sector rose 1.24pc.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which gained 4.03pc, while the biggest loser was WuXi Biologics (Cayman) Inc, which fell 4.17pc.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he had told his team "do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols", after a U.S. federal agency that must sign off on the presidential transition told Biden on Monday that he can formally begin the hand-over process.

The progress made on COVID-19 vaccines, which had underpinned Wall Street overnight, helped keep risk appetite elevated as it boosted optimism about a quicker revival for the global economy.

AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine, cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than its rivals, could be as much as 90pc effective.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.79pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 2.5pc.

The yuan was quoted at 6.5746 per U.S. dollar at 08:11 GMT, 0.16pc firmer than the previous close of 6.585.

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 43.03pc over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.